3D Printing News and Innovation

Update on Materials and Lead Times

If you caught yesterday’s Shapeways Live, I took a chance to update everyone who watched on the status of all of our material lead times. In case you missed the show, I’m back to share them with you here. Since we’ve added so many changes, and upped our capacity in the last couple of weeks, we’re seeing improvements, but some materials are still taking more time than others.

Silver – We’re currently up to speed on silver, with just a few late orders left. There’s been great progress here and we’re working to improve lead times further.

FD/FUD – We are 3 weeks behind on Frosted Detail materials and expect to be caught up in 4 weeks. FD/FUD is catching up, but not fast enough, so we’re reworking our process with our partner, and seeking further capacity.

White & Colored Strong Flexible – There are currently no delays in Strong Flexible materials.

Polished WSF - Polished Strong Flexible is currently 2-3 weeks behind. However, this material is catching up quickly and capacity here will be increased significantly in about 2 weeks time.

Alumide – There are currently no delays in alumide.

White, Transparent & Black Detail – There are no delays in White Detail or in Transparent Detail. Black Detail is experiencing a 1 week delay. This is because our partner’s Black Detail printer broke down and the interim printer moves at a slower pace. Black Detail will be back on track in 2 weeks.

Ceramics - We’re behind on certain orders in ceramics going as far back as May, and we expect to be back on track in 4-5 weeks. Part of the delay is because the new, larger firing kiln was experiencing some temperature problems, which are being dealt with.

Stainless Steel, Bronze, Gold & Brass – There are currently no delays in metals or glass.

Full Color Sandstone – There are currently no delays in Full Color Sandstone.

Hopefully this helps keep the community informed, and helps you make the best decisions for your creative works. If you have further questions or comments, please share below, and thanks for your patience.

Hey guys, I’m sure the wait is maddening. We’re sorry to keep you hanging, and we’re working really hard to deal with the FUD backlog. Also, we want to make sure we keep the community informed, even if that means sharing less-than-ideal news about some of our lead times.

What about a little rebate coupon code valid on the next order instead of a “Sorry! we’re late.” card ?
I mean, some delays are three or four times the leadtime specified on the order confimation…
I’m wondering: what about telling the real leadtime when the items are in the shopping cart ? “delivery: 6th september 2011″.

I agree wholeheartedly. For delays more than twice the original lead time, maybe a $5 coupon? I understand that the massive ordering by us and the machine(s) failing catastrophically was not something expected, but the one order in particular that I have with FUD was supposed to be delivered July 21st. Its now 2 1/2 weeks later and I have needed my Reman Scimitar for this whole time!